Organics - Green Cart

Organics - Green Cart

Our waste system depends on you to be successful, and that starts with sorting materials correctly. The green cart is used to collect organic materials.

Your green cart is for more than just grass clippings and yard waste. You can also put these in your green cart:

food scraps

soiled paper

coffee filters

plant material

twigs

These and other compostable materials are turned into valuable compost. It takes about one year to turn our organics into compost. If these items were put in a landfill, they may never actually break down.

Think you can’t make a difference? Think again. Don’t be a landfiller.

The top three incorrect items found in organics carts in Strathcona County are:

Plastic bags

AA batteries

Plastic containers

Make sure you only put organic materials in the green cart. Remember to remove plastic wrappers, bags and containers from food before you throw them in the green cart. If you are using a bag to collect organics, make sure it is compostable. Plastic and biodegradable bags are not permitted.

Green carts with non-organic materials will not be collected because they contaminate the rest of the organics in the truck. This increases processing costs and the final compost may not be usable.

If you choose to use a bag to collect your organics, make sure you are using Certified compostable bags. Plastic and biodegradable bags are not acceptable in the green cart. Certified compostable bags can be purchased at most grocery or home hardware stores in Sherwood Park. Quantity and availability of bags may vary by store.

Compostable versus biodegradable

Acceptable compostable bags:

Biodegradable bags:

are made from a food by-product such as corn starch and break down into compost.

are usually opaque and feel softer than than plastic bags

have the certified compostable logo. There are some brands that say compostable but are actually biodegradable so be sure to check for the logo.

are made with plastic that breaks down into small pieces but does not decompose

contaminate the final compost, making the whole batch un-usable

can be used for waste in the black waste cart, but not the green organics cart

You can also use newspaper or a paper bag to line your green catcher. If you have a particularly wet organic, wrap it in a newspaper or paper towel to help absorb the liquids.

Organic materials are taken to a commercial composting facility. The organics are placed in windrows and because this process is done at an industrial scale, the organic materials reach high temperatures.

This allows us to include meats, dairy products and other organic materials that cannot be composted in a backyard composter. Increasing the temperature also kills any bacteria or pathogens that may be present in the organic material.

Once the organics have turned into compost, it is spread over farmers' fields where they grow crops such as hemp, barley malt and canola.

When kitchen scraps are disposed using a garburator, they ultimately end up at the wastewater treatment plant. At the treatment plant, most of the organic material is removed by screens and is sent to the landfill. This leads to increased wastewater treatment costs.

It increases the chance of sewer backups. Over time, the organic material will collect in the pipes which can lead to sewer backups.

Using a garburator uses extra water. You will be paying for extra water you use to flush the organic material down the sink and pay extra for the wastewater that is leaving your house.

Extra organics carts are available for an additional monthly fee. Call Utilities at 780-449-5514 for details.

From mid-June to mid-September, organics will be collected every week for residents in Sherwood Park (including those who subscribe to weekly collection in Fountain Creek Estates, Sherwood Park Golf & Country Club Estates and Balmoral Heights), Antler Lake, Ardrossan, Collingwood Cove, Half Moon Lake, Hastings Lake, Josephburg and North and South Cooking Lake.